I know it's only December, but it's never too early to start talking about baseball in my opinion. I'll start with arguably the toughest league in our area, the WBL. I'll give my predictions on each team's finish and possible sleepers:

1. Wapak: Finished 20-4 in 2017 and return 4 key players. The Redskins should win the league if everyone stays healthy!
2. Ottawa Glandorf: Finished 19-8 in 2017 and only lost 1 senior to graduation. The Titans will be at the top and will battle with Wapak for the top spot.
3. Van Wert: Finished 16-9 in 2017 but return the top pitcher in Blackmore, which will throw most all league games. Cougars will be a tough team to beat with him on the hill.
4. Defiance: Finished 20-8 in 2017 but lost 9 seniors to graduation. However, this is still Defiance baseball and they just reload, not rebuild.
5. Elida: Finished 7-20 in 2017 but have a strong group for the next 3 years. Might have the deepest pitching staff in the league with alot of young talent. Don't sleep on the Bulldogs.
6. Kenton: Finished 15-7 in 2017 and have two key players returning. The biggest question mark with the Wildcats; can the young guys step up right away?
7. Celina: Finished 18-7 in 2017 and lost a loaded senior class to graduation. The Bulldogs might struggle this year after having such a talented team.
8. Shawnee: Finished 11-17 in 2017 and will need to improve their pitching in order to compete in this league. Offensively they will be just fine, but on the mound is a big concern.
9. St. Mary's: Finished 7-15 in 2017 and lost 6 seniors to graduation. The Riders will finish near the bottom of the WBL.
10. Bath: Finished 14-9 in 2017 but lost 8 seniors to graduation. The Wildcats just won't have the talent to compete in such a tough league. This year's 8th grade class is loaded!!

I don't think any WBL prediction that doesn't put Defiance at #1 can be considered credible lol. Yes, they had a down year last year (at least by their standards) but they are loaded again. I think you look good other than that...though if OG can find some offense they may be able to get by Wapak for #2. Titans had a kid move in from out of state that's getting some D1 looks....so hopefully the addition of what looks to be a pretty big bat will help them. Now if we can just get rid of this snow.

Normally I would agree with that statement about Defiance. However, Wapak has the two best players in the WBL this spring as long as they stay healthy in Manny Vorhees and Gage Schenk. Defiance isn't "loaded" as you worded it because again, they lost 9 seniors from last year's team and their best returning player is 3rd team all-WBL honoree Blayne Robinson. They return two starters on the mound and have some young guys coming up that will make an impact right away, but I wouldn't use the term "loaded" this coming spring.

Normally I would agree with that statement about Defiance. However, Wapak has the two best players in the WBL this spring as long as they stay healthy in Manny Vorhees and Gage Schenk. Defiance isn't "loaded" as you worded it because again, they lost 9 seniors from last year's team and their best returning player is 3rd team all-WBL honoree Blayne Robinson. They return two starters on the mound and have some young guys coming up that will make an impact right away, but I wouldn't use the term "loaded" this coming spring.

Lol....I guess we will have to agree to disagree. Let's get rid of this snow so we can get these guys back on the field....man, the pitfalls of living in Ohio

Yeah it's going to be a rough spring too from what i've heard. Teams will be lucky to get in 20 games this coming season. I've said it for a while now, but I personally think football and baseball season should be switched in our area at least.